I was pleased to welcome fellow parliamentarians to the race meeting in Chester on Friday night. As a member of the All-Party Racing Group, I have been encouraging colleagues for some time to visit the Roodee to view the new facilities. Racing Group chairman Jeff Ennis, MP for Barnsley, and the MPs and members of the House of Lords were taken on a tour that included the new stables and they were impressed by what they saw.

Everyone loves a day at the seaside – especially in a heatwave!  One of the highlights of this week’s parliamentary business has been the Second Reading of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill. Many local members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Rambler’s Association, and other conservation organisations have contacted me to lend their support for the measures in this Bill that protect our marine environment, and plans for a continuous path around England’s coast. The Bill is now in its Committee Stage, and hopefully will receive its Royal Assent before the Summer Recess.

My next drop-in community surgery is at Hawthorn House, Hawthorn Road, Lache, tomorrow (Friday) to be followed by another on Friday, July 10, at the Holy Trinity Church Centre in Norris Road, Blacon, both between 5pm and 6.30pm. Appointments are not needed.

Appointments for regular Friday surgeries held at Chester Town Hall can be made by phoning 01244 400174.

More teachers are to be trained to identify and support children in England with dyslexia.

Government adviser Sir Jim Rose, who recently reviewed the English primary school curriculum, says parents need guidance on the help available. The charity Dyslexia Action has called his study a "landmark report". Children's Secretary Ed Balls has announced £10 million for extra help, including training for 4,000 teachers, a move that will be welcomed by many parents in the Chester area who have commented on a lack of specialist support for children with special educational needs.

Visitors to Parliament are always welcome and I was delighted in the last week to meet a group of students from the West Cheshire College, who are studying for the Foundation Degree in Early Years Practice, and government and politics students from Abbey Gate College, Saighton Grange.

I have no hesitation in highlighting how impressed I was by the dignified departure of the Speaker, Michael Martin MP. I agreed with the remarks of an SNP member who referred to the "appalling Metropolitan media snobbery" of many of those commenting on the background of the former sheet metal worker who had served his Glasgow constituents faithfully for 30 years and who held the role of Speaker for eight years.

In his closing remarks Speaker Martin referred to an "understandable loss of public trust and confidence" and rightly castigated the leaders of all political parties for their lack of leadership in dealing with concerns over the parliamentary allowances system.

Through my membership of Speaker Martin’s Works of Art Committee I am well aware of the extent of the role of Speaker, whose many and varied duties extend far beyond chairing proceedings in the House, and I have always believed that the outgoing Speaker conducted himself in a perfectly appropriate manner. I made clear in a previous column that, when looking for a successor to Michael Martin, I would opt for the candidate who had made clear his or her determination to modernise the way the Commons conducts itself.

From the outset I believed that John Bercow was the man for the job and I voted for him in preference to MPs who were less committed to a reforming agenda.

The controversy over MPs' allowance has focused largely on the second homes allowance but there are many facets to the MPs' expenses issue. For example, the system does not take into account the large differential in rental costs for constituency office accommodation in various parts of the country. Rental costs in Chester are high and some years I have had to subsidise the running costs of my Abbey Green offices from my salary.

Another issue that is being addressed is that of MPs holding second or even third jobs.  As an MP who receives hundreds of pieces of correspondence a day and who has a high level of casework I cannot imagine how MPs find the time to do another job. For me, being the MP for the City of Chester is most certainly a full-time job. I for one look forward to supporting the recommendations of Sir Christopher Kelly who has accepted the task of revising the allowances system to make it more fair and transparent. Sadly Sir Christopher, formerly chairman of the NSPCC who also conducted the inquiry into the Soham murders, will not be making his recommendations to Parliament until the autumn. Personally I would prefer those recommendations to be received much sooner.  However, it is vital that he has enough time to get his important work right, and not make rash recommendations that would be regretted in the future. The public should be made aware that over two thirds of MPs' expenses goes directly in wages to their staff, and that a large part of the rest is used to run two offices.

My overall view is the House of Commons Department of Resources should assume full responsibility for the payment of bills for constituency offices and second homes.

I have enjoyed my role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Beverley Hughes MP, the Children's Minister, tremendously but following the announcement that she intends to stand down from Parliament at the next election, I have decided to accept an invitation to take on the role of PPS to Ben Bradshaw, new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for many key policy areas that are particularly relevant to our historic city - culture, tourism, heritage and architecture.

Beverley Hughes, who grew up in Ellesmere Port, has been an excellent Children's Minister since 2005 and she had been praised on all sides of the House, and by leading children's charities. Beverley's work in developing childcare and youth services has been widely acknowledged and it is entirely fitting that her leading role in the creation of Sure Start children's centres across the country should be recognised. Indeed the recent opening of the 3,000th children’s centre nationwide is a fitting testament to her substantial achievements whilst in office. Sure Start children's centres make a huge difference to parents and their children providing childcare, early education and health services. Beverley's leading role in delivering them is a legacy of which she should be proud.

As Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, put it:

"She has contributed huge amounts to the agenda and is well respect ed among the children's workforce on the ground right up to heads of local authorities.

"It is her understanding of the complexity of how to get things done and her untiring push to get beyond the theory that will be missed."

I was pleased to meet the delegation from the Cheshire Branch of Age Concern, who came down to Westminster to make the case for more resources for Adult Social Care.

The message from older people and carers who have attended Social Care Forums that I have organised in Chester has been loud and clear – independent living in familiar surroundings is far preferable to residential care, and more and better daycare and respite care is needed.  The failure to provide adequate provision in the community leads to bed blocking at the Countess of Chester Hospital. “Bed blocking” is the term used when a patient has recovered sufficiently to be allowed home, but their discharge is delayed until a care package is put in place.

Meanwhile the bed they are occupying cannot be offered to another patient.  On any one day, there could be up to 40 beds “blocked” at the Countess. The good news locally is the decision of the new local authority and the Primary Care Trust to jointly fund a new post of director of social care to work to develop improved social care services for older people in West Cheshire. One of the reasons why older people find themselves in hospital is because of avoidable falls in the home.  Hip fractures alone cost the NHS £2.3 billion a year -- £6 million a day.  The National Osteoporosis Society has recently launched a manifesto that outlines steps to eradicate unnecessary broken bones and save the NHS millions of pounds spent routinely on fracture care. In Chester, Primary Care Trust staff have recently been out and about in the community offering advice about ways to reduce the risk of falls to groups like the Cameo Club in Newtown, the Silver Threads in Blacon and Age Concern.

On behalf of frustrated constituents and local businesses I have long been pressing the authorities to show some urgency in providing improved car parking facilities at Chester Station. Long before the new hourly direct service to and from London was introduced I highlighted the insufficient car park capacity at the station. Earlier this year I organised a roundtable discussion at the Queen Hotel and tomorrow a top-level meeting will be held at County Hall. Those attending will include Neville Chamberlain, chairman of the Cheshire and Warrington Economic Alliance; Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the Northwest Development Agency; Liz Meek, regional director of Government Office North West; Cllr Mike Jones, leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council; and a leading official from the Department for Transport. The lack of progress has been attributable to the fragmented decision-making process - the station and car parks are owned by Network Rail and leased to Arriva Trains Wales; the West Coast Mainline trains are operated by Virgin Trains; and until recently the former city council was the planning authority and the former county council was the highway authority. Hopefully at the meeting tomorrow Network Rail will unveil plans for nearly 400 additional car parking spaces to match the vastly increased numbers of passengers using the station.